With the success of the Paranormal Activity franchise and the surprise hit The Devil Inside at the box office earlier this year, Paramount is combining elements of the two to create an all-new franchise. The studio is teaming with the big players behind Paranormal to create a new horror movie with an all-Latino cast that centers around “Catholic-based paranormal mythology.” More below.

The Hollywood Reporter has the story, and they’re reporting that producers Jason Blum and Oren Peli (who also directed the first Paranormal Activity film) are teaming with PA 2 and 3 writer Christopher Landon for this new venture, which Landon will write and direct. (Landon wrote and directed Burning Palms, a movie I consider tied with Just Go With It as the worst film I saw in 2011.) This new movie doesn’t have a title yet, but it’s being described as a “cousin” of the Paranormal series and not a spin-off, prequel, reboot, or sequel.

Even in today’s marketplace, it’s rare that studios will announce something with their intentions being quite this transparent; it’s obvious that this entire movie is just a targeted grab at the Latino population (especially considering many are involved in Catholicism), so I imagine this going one of two ways. First, the Latino population could find it refreshing that a studio is going out of its way to represent them on screen. Or, they could reject the film as pandering. Either way, it’s a ballsy move on Paramount’s part to be so straight-up about their intentions, and we’ll have to see if this little experiment works or not. The budget will likely be so small that the risk of a surprise box-office success is definitely worth the effort.

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What started as a very low budget independent flick shot in 8 days, turned into the sub-genre that we now call ‘found footage’. While The Blair Witch Project wasn’t the first movie to use this style, it was the one that turned the most heads and gave studios the courage to try something new. 12 years later we have the popular Paranormal Activity series and many other flicks coming and going so there’s no better time to have a look at the found footage box office top 10.

10. [Rec] 2 (2009) $18.5 million

Sequel to the original 2007 [Rec], this Spanish horror film did not live up to the high standards set by the original. Other than that, it made quite some money.

9. Apollo 18 (2011) $25.4 million

A movie released just little over 2 months ago, Apollo 18 tells the story of two American astronauts sent on a secret expedition to the Moon. The premise showed a lot of potential but like many of this films, it ultimately disappointed.

8. [Rec] (2007) $32.5 million

Let me just say that if this was a top 10 based on quality, [Rec] would no doubt rank first. While only 4 years old, this is already a cult classic and for fear of spoiling anything, I won’t tell you anything about the story. It also inspired a less than stellar US remake that found its way to 7th place.

7. Quarantine (2008) $41.3 million

Don’t be fooled by the fact that this made more money, quality wise it can’t hold a candle to [Rec]. Now if you haven’t seen the original, on its own, Quarantine isn’t half bad but I personally recommend you see [Rec], it’s much more deserving of your time.

6. The Last Exorcism (2010) $67.7 million

A forgettable PG-13 supernatural horror only good for some cheap scares.

5. Cloverfield (2008) $170.7 million

The J.J. Abrams monster feature first teased in front of Transformers in the summer of 2007 is, by found footage standards, a ten pound gorilla considering the $25 million budget. It was a very polarizing movie, liked by some, hated by others but in the end a very unique experience. I think Cloverfield is definitely worth your time.

4. Paranormal Activity 3 (2011) $172.4 million*

I put an asterisk there because this movie is still well into its box office run and by the time it leaves theaters, it should at least be in 2nd place. I haven’t seen this one so I won’t judge what I don’t know. But reviews and word of mouth seem to be good so you might want to check this one out too.

3. Paranormal Activity 2 (2010) $177.5 million

After the death of the Saw series, Paranormal Activity became the go-to Halloween franchise, one that seems like it’s not as close to the finish line as I thought it was a month ago. While not as appreciated or popular, Paranormal Activity 2 made more then enough money to warrant not just one sequel but probably ten.

2. Paranormal Activity (2009) $193.5 million

This is probably as close as we’ve ever got to a second Blair Witch Project. By now we know this series has become a worldwide phenomenon and is here for the long run, so there’s no point in arguing over anything else.

1. The Blair Witch Project (1999) $248.6 million

The movie that made found footage films popular and is still, 12 years later, the most popular of this sub-genre. So you might ask, if it was so popular, why not pull a Paranormal Activity on it? Well, they actually tried something with Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, an awful mess of a movie released in 2000. The thing is, because found footage was still a strange concept for a mainstream feature, they probably got scared and changed the style with the sequel, dropping the found footage look. A 3rd entry was planned for 2001 but since Book of Shadows performed so badly both with fans and at the box office, it was cancelled.

A look at what is to come is not easy with these movies since they have a tendency to come out of nowhere. What we do know is a 4th Paranormal Activity will be released by Halloween 2012 and then we have Chronicle, a found footage superhero flick scheduled to open February 3rd 2012. I’m personally very much looking forward to that. Until then don’t forget to film anything weird that happens to you, who knows, maybe one day it might turn into a movie.

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I was way off last weekend when predicting this would open with $30 million and i’m not ashamed to recognize when I’m wrong. Not only did Paranormal Activity 3 open higher than the last entry in the series but it took the number one pure horror opening record and the best fall opening to date. Meanwhile, everything else bombed.

It’s very hard to find words to express just how incredible a $52.5 million opening for Paranormal Activity 3 is. The first movie in the series, as many know, became a sleeper hit in the fall of 2009. In 2010 Paranormal Activity 2 turned from sleeper to event movie with a $40.6 million opening. Now, Paranormal Activity 3 did what few expected and bested the previous film’s opening. As mentioned in the introduction, Paranormal Activity 3 is now the highest opening horror flick, beating brother Paranormal Activity 2 that held said spot for just one year. The fall opening record (at least what Hollywood considers as fall) was previously under Jackass 3D with $50.3 million a year ago. Paranormal Activity 3 should have no problem finishing ahead of Paranormal Activity 2‘s $84.7 million total and even attempt to out-gross the original’s $107.9 million.

In 2nd place former leader Real Steel makes $10.8 million for a respectable $67.3 million after 18 days. Footloose was 3rd with $10.3 million and $30.9 million in 11 days. Made with $24 million, this 80′s remake is on the right track to becoming profitable.

The Three Musketeers in 4th place was for lack of better words, a disaster thanks to an $8.6 million opening weekend. This is enough to make even Conan the Barbarian jealous (one of the bigger bombs this year). With this puny opening, even a total of $20 million from North America seems like a stretch now. Director Paul W.S. Anderson probably isn’t very happy with this result but around the world musketeers is still doing decent business so it ain’t all bad.

The Ides of March rounds up the top 5 with $4.8 million and a total of $29.4 million after 18 days. In Dolphin Tale/Moneyball news, the flicks are still at it with $4.2 versus $3.9 million in 6th and 7th place with $64.6 and $63.9 million after 32 days. I can’t remember the last time two movies opening at the same time ran so close to each other. Next weekend (thanks to Puss in Boots) should be when Moneyball leaves Dolphin Tale behind.

Johnny English Reborn in 8th place with $3.8 million was a far cry from the $9.1 million opening of Johnny English in 2003. With numbers like that, this film is looking at $9-10 million max.

The last wide release of the weekend, The Mighty Macs, wasn’t able to even reach $1 million and had to settle for 15th place. This will be out of theaters in 2 weeks with no more then $2 million made in total.

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We have a decent line-up today with four new flicks coming out starting with the biggest of the bunch and ironically, the cheapest, Paranormal Activity 3. Yep, the series that started so small is now a trilogy and number 4 is definitely on the horizon. Johnny English Reborn, The Three Musketeers and The Mighty Macs also open wide today.

A year ago Paranormal Activity 2 opened with $40.6 million and went on to gross $84.7 million in North America, quite a bit less than the $107.9 million made by Paranormal Activity in 2009. Now even if Paranormal Activity 3 opens with half that it should still be extremely profitable since it didn’t cost more than $5 million to produce. Paramount knows what they have here, this property won’t be here forever so they plan on milking it as much as they possibly can and who can blame them, really. I can see a $30 million opening weekend for Paranormal Activity 3 and obviously first place.

The Three Musketeers, the latest adaptation of the famous Alexandre Dumas novel, now in 3D, comes from director Paul W.S. Anderson of Resident Evil fame, so we can expect at least some decent action scenes. Interest doesn’t seem to be all that high for this flick so I’m going to say $15 million is what this will do for 2nd place.

Real Steel should have a tiny lead on Footloose for 3rd place. Both should hover around $9 million. Johnny English Reborn, the latest Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) flick to hit US shores, won’t match the $9.1 million opening of the original Johnny English from 2003. A $7 million opening and 5th place is most likely here.

The last new wide release of the weekend, The Mighty Macs, won’t have an easy time trying to reach the top 10. The movie won’t see more than $1.5 million this weekend considering it only opens in a few theaters and there has been little to no marketing campaign for it.

Next week Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried star in the sci-fi thriller In Time, Antonio Banderas lends his voice once again for Puss in Boots in his very own movie, and Johnny Deep is pretty much his awesome self in The Rum Diary, a movie that has been a long time coming.

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Paranormal Activity 2 interweaves characters and scenarios from the first film into its story and does so in a surprisingly organic way. The original is almost required viewing before seeing this one, but if you worry the freshness of the first movie might wear off this time around, allow me to put your mind at ease. This sequel is perhaps more terrifying and suspenseful than the original, and establishes itself as a solid entry into a horror genre and all but assures we’ll be seeing more Paranormal Activity with every Halloween to come in the next couple of years.

Set three months before the hauntings of the Katie and Micah, this story revolves around Kristi, Katie’s sister. Kristi gets a video camera to document the early days of her newborn son, Hunter. Her husband Dan and stepdaughter Alli also live in the house, and the first half hour of the movie gives us a look into their daily lives and their family dynamic. But things can’t stay this good for long. Strange things start happening, and soon Kristi wonders if it has something to do with her and Katie’s childhood dealings with the supernatural. Katie and Micah pop in and out of the story, trying to console Kristi and her family about the weird happenings in their house.

The biggest surprise for me was the movie doesn’t feel rushed or like a blatant cash grab. The filmmakers have automatically increased the stakes for the audience, manipulating our feelings with the involvement of a child and a dog. But it never feels forced; the story always comes first (and it’s actually a terrific story), tying in events and characters from the first film and adding to the mythology of this franchise. I’d argue that the tension is higher in this film – not only because of the kid and the dog, but because of the camera work. Instead of a tripod recording their sleep, Kristi’s family installs security cameras in multiple areas of the house. The structure of the movie plays on the same formula as the original, meaning events during the day are captured via handheld camera and when night comes, they switch to the security feed. And because of the multiple possibilities at night from the various camera angles they have set up, the tension becomes more palpable. The suspense is ramped up with each cut from one night vision shot to the next, because we never know exactly where, how, or when the spirit will strike.

It’s rare that I find a film that I cannot watch because of how tense it is, but these movies get me to a point where I can’t watch them like normal movies. I have to concentrate on the ticking clock in the bottom right corner of the screen and rely on my peripheral vision to alert me to any weird stuff happening in the middle. Sure, there are some loud jump scares that would probably frighten anyone based on volume levels alone, but there are also some genuinely creepy moments mixed in that, combined with the documentary style of the movie, leave the audience not ever questioning the authenticity of the movie itself, but with the uneasy feeling that events like these might be possible. Every cut is designed to heighten suspense, and every angle is chosen to get you on the edge of your seat.

My only real complaint with the film is a small one, but I think it compromises the integrity of both movies. In this film, Katie and Micah have conversations about the hauntings with Kristi and her family, and since this is technically a prequel, they would have to remember these conversations in the first film. It’s been a year since I’ve seen Paranormal Activity, but I remember Micah being very taken aback with the suggestion that the house could be haunted; if you look at the events in sequence, Micah shouldn’t be that surprised considering he and Katie just had conversations about a haunted house not far from their own and involving Katie’s own family. That was all – just a continuity issue. If you can get past that (and you dug the first film), then you’ll certainly be OK with this one.

SPOILER ALERT FOR BOTH PARANORMAL ACTIVITY FILMS

My favorite scene in this film was the one where Dan and Alli make the decision to spread the curse to Katie. The acting was great all around: the questioning innocent daughter forced to live with this decision for the rest of her life, and the father looking out for the interests of his own immediate family. Of course, he meets his untimely end quickly afterward, but the daughter is left with the aftermath of this entire scenario and I’m guessing we haven’t seen the end of her in this series.

END SPOILERS

Paranormal Activity 2 is the most effective horror thriller I’ve seen in a year, and I’m cautiously optimistic about the future of this franchise. This movie certainly won’t make it on my year end top ten list, but if I were to rank theatrical experiences, this one would be pretty high up there. Until next time…

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Twitter grew tremendously in 2009, mainly because it has become a people search engine. News, events, and movies become trending topics and you can see what people are saying about them in real-time. As we will soon be heading into 2010 Twitter has complied a list of the top trending topics (ie. most talked about) of 2009 for different categories, and below is the list of movies that took over the Twitter-sphere this year:

1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
2. New Moon
3. District 9
4. Paranormal Activity
5. Star Trek
6. True Blood
7. Transformers 2
8. Watchmen
9. Slumdog Millionaire
10. G.I. Joe

I have no idea what True Blood is doing there. Harry Potter and New Moon were expected, however the movie that takes the #3 spot is interesting. I can remember around the time District 9 was released Twitter was full of positive buzz for the film, and that buzz most likely encouraged people to see it. I have no way of proving it but I’m pretty sure the Twitter buzz contributed to the film making over $200 million worldwide. Twitter probably contributed to the success of Paranormal Activity too.

What can we expect for next year? Well we have Eclipse and Deathly Hallows being released so they will probably hit the top spots again. I can imagine Iron Man 2 becoming a trending topic for a while, and maybe Kick-Ass will be the ‘District 9′ of 2010?

(You can follow Filmonic on Twitter here)

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The recent success of Paranormal Activity, which was made for $15,000 and has a current box office taking of $107 million, has promoted a new way of thinking at Paramount. According to Variety they are hoping recreate this type of financial success by spending $1 million anually on microbudget films.

Seeking to replicate the stunning success of “Paranormal Activity,” Paramount’s launching an initiative that will spend $1 million annually to develop and produce microbudget films.

Move, unveiled Thursday, is designed to place between 10 and 20 projects in development by the end of next year, with no individual budget topping $100,000.

Goodman indicated the funds, which will come out of the studio’s overall production budget, will be targeted at both unknowns and established filmmakers, with the goal of increasing the studio’s ability to find new voices and ideas. In addition, the initiative’s aimed at giving Paramount a more diverse portfolio of titles at a time when Hollywood’s devoting most of its resources to megabudget pics, such as Par’s “Transformers” and “Star Trek” franchises.

The studio hasn’t set a target of how many projects would receive a theatrical release. The microbudget projects could also conceivably be remade with conventional budgets.

This is a smart move be Paramount. Not only will it give small filmmakers a chance to shine, it could also produce some very creative films. There is also the fact that they could make a bucket load of money if they produce more hits like ‘Paranormal Activity’ ever now and again.

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I don’t think I can talk about Paranormal Activity without mentioning The Blair Witch Project, because the same thing is going to happen to this movie.

Paranormal Activity is good. It was shot by Oren Peli on a budget of $11,000 – even if the version Paramount Pictures is releasing is a tad more expensive, the core of the film is cheaply shot. Paramount bought the film with the intention of remaking it, but when they held a screening for writers they had a near-record amount of walk outs. The studio thought they had a bomb until the talked to the walk outs: they had left because they were scared.

In 1999 The Blair Witch Project was released on the general public. It was an independent phenomena that ended up grossing $248 million on a $60,000 budget. The backlash was quick to come. The shaky cam was too much for people, not enough actually happened on screen for the hardcore horror fans, a number of valid and fictional reasons piled on the media hype for this movie, eventually leading to one of the film’s stars, Heather Donahue, to call the experience a “train wreck.”

When I saw The Blair Witch Project, it was in limited release like Paranormal Activity is now. I was taken by a friend of mine and I had no idea what I was in for. As we waited in line, a Lionsgate representative gave everyone a glossy mini-magazine with press clippings and backstory of what we were about to see. Then we saw it, and we were blown away. When Blair Witch was released wide and the print was forced to grain out over the large screens of the nation’s multiplexes, I saw the film twice more and neither time replicated the atmosphere of the first. The movie did its job with its editing and story, but the atmosphere was never there. The movie’s hand had been tipped, its secret out.

Paranormal Activity stands to do the exact same thing down to the letter.

I’m not a huge horror fan, but I can appreciate it. I’ll take fear of the unseen over the gore of the torture porn subgenre, but I don’t mind seeing someone’s head cleaved in half. That doesn’t happen in Paranormal Activity. I’m not going to say what happens in Paranormal Activity except to say this: If you can and have up to this point, avoid the trailer. It’s not misleading, but the necessary evil of teasing money shots in three-second blasts doesn’t serve what this movie is. I didn’t ever leap out of my chair at a jump scene, but I did do some nervous gripping of the arm rests.

Paranormal Activity is “found footage” shot by Micah Sloat and his girlfriend Katie Featherston. Kate has been haunted by something since she was 8 and Micah is determined to tape the phenomena even as things get worse.

The problem with a movie this cheap being this good isn’t what you initially think it is. Remember Blair Witch? Remember your smart ass friends worrying that now any crappy little movie with no action could be shot on a Hi-8 camera and released? Remember how that didn’t happen?

The problem with the cheap-to-good ratio is that the studio that releases it doesn’t know when to scale back the hype for maximum effectiveness. They don’t need to, because even if they get your butt in the seat and you hate it, you still paid for your butt space. But, the hype on this one isn’t going to help it. If you go below a $20,000 budget, your film is going to have some visual limitations (or you end up being Robert Rodriguez), and the movie season we’re in now – coming out of summer and into Halloween – is peppered with leftover, flashy fare (Pandorum, anyone?). Paranormal Activity may have been a fantastic movie going experience and I could have resorted to hyperbolae and written something like: “The most fun I’ve had at the theater all year!”

But Paranormal Activity can’t live up to that, and the movie deserves to be seen with little-to-no expectation if at all possible.

Spoiler: It’s not possible. Countdown to backlash, starting now.

Demand Paranormal Activity in your area HERE.

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